26-year old lefty starting pitcher made a good first impression on the Angels in 2009 after coming over from the Rays in a deal. He pitched in 6 games (all starts) for the Angels last season and he was 2-2 with a 1.73 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. The Angels had high hopes for Kazmir this year but he has been downright putrid. He has started 25 games for the Angels this year and he is 8-14 with a 5.99 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP. He has allowed 23 homers and walked 74 batters this year in only 136 2/3 innings for the Angels. His strikeouts are also way down this season as he only has 87 of them. Kazmir is a mess right now and he doesn’t have a spot locked up in the 2011 rotation for the Angels so he better finish the season strong.

The Angels have released 30-year old righty reliever Brian Stokes. Stokes pitched in 16 games (0 starts) for the Angels this year and he was 0-0 with a 8.10 ERA and a 2.52 WHIP. He has given up 26 hits (4 of which were homers) in only 16 2/3 innings this year as he was hit hard. Stokes did whiff 16 batters but he also walked 16 batters which is just not acceptable at the major league level. The Angels were smart to pull the plug on Stokes.

34-year old righty reliever Scot Shields has not looked good at all this season for the Angels. He has pitched in 40 games (1 start) for the Angels this year and he is 0-3 with a 5.48 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. He has given up 44 hits in 42 2/3 innings which isn’t too bad but he has also walked 36 batters and that has been a big problem. Shields came into this season having pitched in 448 games (14 starts) in 9 years with the Angels and he was 46-41 with 21 saves, a 3.03 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. The Angels were talking about cutting Shields but they will give him the rest of the year for him to prove that he has something left.

With Joel Pineiro out for most of the rest of the year the Angels need 23-year old righty Trevor Bell to step up. He has pitched in 19 games (3 starts) this season for the Angels and he is 1-3 with a 6.03 ERA and a 1.78 WHIP. Bell has given up 52 hits in only 34 1/3 innings for the Angels so far this year. In his three starts, Bell is 0-2 with a 6.43 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP. The Angels really need Bell to start pitching like the scouting reports say he can.

34-year old righty reliever Scot Shields is pitching some of the worst baseball of his major league career right now. Shields has pitched in 26 games (0 starts) for the Angels this season and he is 0-2 with a 5.13 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP. He has now pitched in 474 games (14 starts) in his 10 years with the Angels and he is 46-43 with 21 saves, a 3.11 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. I have a feeling that Shields is going to get into a groove pretty soon as he’s too good of a pitcher to have the results he has had so far this season.